Running Head: DOES ORGANIZATION LEAD TO EFFICIENCY?

Can increasing my time organizing my devices and cloud storage help me to become more efficient? Action Research Project Evonne Dotson Azusa Pacific University

Authors Note: This paper was prepared for EDUC 526 Capstone course, taught by Dr. Gilbreath. Abstract

Running Head: DOES ORGANIZATION LEAD TO EFFICIENCY? The following research project is a 6 week study (completed in five weeks) and is apart my capstone experience at Azusa Pacific University. The action research project will be a personal

study in order to help implement more efficient work habits. The projects results will be based upon a consistent weekly practice of organizing all of my devices in order to see if I can become more efficient in managing my time and space.

Running Head: DOES ORGANIZATION LEAD TO EFFICIENCY?

Introduction

This is my topic of study because keeping my devices, applications, programs and files orderly has now become overwhelming and a bit of a nuisance. At first placing different files and programs anywhere on my devices was fine for me until it became overly cluttered. Now it is understood, that implementing a plan to manage the organization of my device could keep me more orderly and lead me to becoming more efficient. My action research plan will take place at home and at school which are the primarily the places where studying take place for me. The intervention plan will begin Monday February 17th, 2014 and will end March 19th, 2014. My question of study for this project is: will taking 10 minutes or more each day organizing my devices lead to me to keep my tools more orderly?

Action Research Intervention First week: my plan is to spend 10 minutes each day organizing my computer, iPad and iphone and cloud storage into folders. Second week: my plan is to spend 10 minutes each day organizing my computer, iPad, iPhone and cloud storage into folders. Third week: my plan is to spend 12 minutes each day organizing my computer, iPad , iPhone, cloud storage into folders. Fourth week: my plan is to spend 15 minutes each day organizing my computer, iPad , iPhone, cloud storage into folders. By the third week I completed organizing the file folders on my computer. So I decided to conclude the project by making sure my personal dropbox had space for future files. I did this by deleting old or unneeded files. In addition, I organized like files into folders. Fifth week: After finishing deleting files and organizing my dropbox I now have space for future files. My task in the future will be deciding on how I can best use my dropbox to store my files.

Running Head: DOES ORGANIZATION LEAD TO EFFICIENCY?

Results duration Week 1 2/17/14 Time start/finish 11:00-11:10p where I was At home devices I used laptop Notes about the Project It seems like it may take some time to get organized. organizing my word documents into folders organizing my pictures into folders organizing my pictures into folders organizing my pictures into folders

Day 2 2/18/14

8:55-9:05p

At home

laptop

Day 3 2/19/14

4:21-4:31p

At home

laptop

day 4 2/20/14

8:40-8:50

At home

laptop

Day 5 2/21/14

8:05-8:18

At home

laptop

Week 2 Day 1 2/24/14 11:55-12:10p at home phone It was an unsuccessful attempt I will try again tomorrow I was able to organize my apps on my phone, it was successful I continued to organized the pictures into folders documents

Day 2 2/25/14

5:00-5:15p

at home

phone

Day 3 2/26/14

8:40-8:52p

at home

laptop

Day 4 3/27/14

10:36-10:50p

at home

laptop

Running Head: DOES ORGANIZATION LEAD TO EFFICIENCY? library Day 5 2/28/14 8:31-8:44 at home laptop I was able to organize the local disk backup folder and started on the desktop

Week 3 Day 1 3/3/14 9:00-9:11p at home laptop I organized my google documents org. my phone and desktop document

Day 2 3/4/14

5:11-5:25p

at home

laptop

Running Head: DOES ORGANIZATION LEAD TO EFFICIENCY? Day 3 3/5/14 8:00-8:12am at home laptop under the APU account I organized my google drive I am having a little trouble finding the right storage for my documents. I have to delete files in order to have space on my current dropbox. * I tried google drive as my local cloud storage but it is taking to long to upload documents. So I may use box. com as an alternative. I realized that in order to be successful at project i have to be able to deal with computer/ internet malfunctions and I have to flexible with my start and end times

Day 4 3/7/2014

9:45-10:00am

at home

laptop

Day 5 3/8/2014

6:55-7:10pm

at home

laptop

Week 4 Day 1 3/11/2014 10:41-11:00p at home laptop decision day- I am going to delete old files from my dropbox and org. into folders same

Day 2 3/12/2014

9:05-9:20p

at home

laptop

Running Head: DOES ORGANIZATION LEAD TO EFFICIENCY? Day 3 3/13/2014 4:30-4:45p at home laptop I am working on deleting old files from Dropbox it may take sometime but I should have enough space for new documents etc. putting Dropbox into file folders I had to get rid of old unnecessary files but I believe my mission will be accomplished Mission accomplished for now. I have enough room for new files and folders but eventually I believe I am going to invest in getting an external drive. As a result of consistently organizing my files I now know the importance of keeping everything from getting cluttered. It is best to organize something right away rather than wait

Day 4 3/17/14 Day 5 3/18/2014

6:00-6:20p

at home at home

laptop laptop

Final Run week 5

Running Head: DOES ORGANIZATION LEAD TO EFFICIENCY?

Section 4: Conclusion The changes I would recommend for this project would be to research and choose a specific cloud storage for all files and documents prior to beginning the project. I found myself wrestling with that decision when the time came to choose a cloud storage.Instead, I ended choosing what I already had been using as oppose to what could be best for me currently and in the future.The reason why my Action Research plan worked is because I consistently worked on organizing my files on a weekly basis. Increasing my time organizing my devices on a weekly basis was also integral in successfully completing this project. Probably the most important aspect of successfully completing the project is being mentally prepared to take on a new challenge even when it something you may not want to tackle or do. I personally had to realize the value in taking time to implement a new habit and by practicing this new habit I would be benefited. In order to keep my computer orderly I will have to choose a day to check on the status of my files and folders. I have found that it is better to organize something right away rather than wait and then your files will get cluttered. Maintaining the same level of diligence will definitely be a challenge but as long as I do it regularly I can make organizing my computer a legitimate habit. Doing this will lead to efficient work habits. Also keeping the proper perspective and being disciplined in implementing this new habit will make this a regular practice.

Section 5: Comments The part that I enjoyed about the action research project was when I finally organized all my documents in the My Documents feature under My Libraries. It was such a relief to see it was actually possible to have my documents into folders that are neat and labeled. Another aspect of the project that I enjoyed was seeing that is possible to change your habits when you implement a plan and you are disciplined. Its amazing that much of anything can be accomplished in this manner!

Running Head: DOES ORGANIZATION LEAD TO EFFICIENCY?